Hello and welcome to my second post on players who I think should either should stay, or go. Since my last post I am well aware that a sum of players have left the club including Kevin Mbabu, Vurnon Anita and Sammy Ameobi. I am expecting more to go in the space of this episode and the next one. So there will probably not be many more additions to this series if that's the case.
Grant Hanley - Go
When Grant Hanley came from Blackburn Rovers for £5.5million last July, we thought he would be a leader, or a voice in the squad at least. 5 league starts later and it looks like Grant Hanley is going to have to walk the plank at any point, with Newcastle being linked to various center backs and some fans suggesting that he moves on too. I really can't see there being ANY future for Hanley at Newcastle United. Like Matz Sels, he started the first few games before being quickly dropped from the starting 11 despite not playing too badly. He never came back as a first choice. When this happened He mostly warmed up the bench unless somebody was injured or suspended and he would have to play. And when that happened. Hanley stuck out like a sore thumb the way he played. And that's in the Championship. So there is no way on earth this man is suited for the top division. Hopefully he goes for the sake of his own career.
Chancel Mbemba - Stay (depending on who we buy)
Chancel Mbemba has been with us since the 2015-16 season, where he cost £8.5million from Belgian club Anderlecht. And was one of the few reliable players from that season. in 16/17, he was in the squad for the first few games until we played Queens Park Rangers away from home, where he was dropped, the next game he was back in the starting 11 but he played poor and scored an own goal in a 2-0 loss against Wolverhampton. He only played once after that game until May in a 1-0 victory against Burton Albion, which many toon fans will remember because of one horrific mistake by referee Kieth Stroud which involved Matt Ritchie's penalty goal being disallowed and instead given as a free kick to Burton. But that shouldn't overshadow Mbemba's performance. He was fantastic on the day and thus played every remaining game of the season bar two. (Ipswich and Preston) I do think he should stay, but I also don't think Rafa trusts him that much. (shown by his playing time) And with Newcastle being linked to more and more CB's such as Abdennour and Florian Lejeune plus the first team CB's we already have such as Lascelles and Clark, it may be time for him to go to save wages. However, if those rumors turn out to be just paper talk, then I think he should have a guaranteed starting 11 spot in the coming season.
Jamaal Lascelles - Stay
This one seems obvious. He was our captain last season and although he made some mistakes here and there, he usually played to a very high standard starting 41 league games and scoring 3 goals from the center half position. He also found his way into the PFA championship team of the season. And, for a 23 year old, he acts like a man in his 30's for his level of maturity. He deserves at least one more year for me.
Mohamed Diame - Go
Mo Diame has been very up and down during his current spell on Tyneside, but it's been too far down at times considering he is our main number 10 at the moment. He was signed from Hull City for £4.5million not long after he scored the winning goal for them in the play off final. Not to mention he had premier league experience while playing for Wigan, West Ham and Hull. So we thought we had a solid player on our hands. What we ended up getting is a donkey who will be remembered for possibly the worst goal ever against Brighton. In his first few months at the toon, it looked like it was a mistake signing him. He had long touches and constantly made mistakes. But that was only until he scored 2 in a 6-0 win against Preston in the league cup back in October. After that he looked a better player. Scoring a great goal against Wigan Athletic,grabbing an assist against Birmingham and then scoring again away at Burton Albion. All of these feats happened consecutively too. He also put up a great performance against Nottingham Forrest in December 2016. But in 2017 after he spent time playing in the Africa Cup Of Nations for Senegal, it was right back to the old Diame. Apart from this time he was almost invisible, contributing to nothing at all until February with his "goal" against Brighton, where it took a deflection off of Daryl Murphy before the ball hit off his heel and spun into the roof of the net. After that, he never really attributed to anything again.Showing he is not good enough for the no.10 position or to even feature in our squad at all next season.
Diame's Masterpiece vs Brighton
